Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 16:1-7.  Let’s go!

On verses 1-7:  The reason God decided that the kingship of Israel would no longer go through Jeroboam’s family line and the reason God wiped out Jeroboam’s house entirely was because Jeroboam had turned away from the Lord to worship idols of his own making and led all of Israel to do the same.  Baasha must have realized this at some point.  Yet even after being the very instrument God used to wipe out Jeroboam’s house, Baasha becomes the new king and commits the very same sins Jeroboam committed.  Following in Jeroboam’s footsteps, Baasha worships idols and causes the Israelites to do the same.  Failing to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors, Baasha receives a message from God through the prophet Jehu: just like God wiped out the house of Jeroboam for their sins, God would also wipe Baasha and his house (v3-4).  

What can we learn from this?  

1. We are to honour those who go before us but we also need to be aware of what mistakes they made so that we do not repeat them.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 15:9-24.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 15:12-14 (NIV) 
12 He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made. 
13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 
14 Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. 

On verses 9-15:  These verses summarize the long 41 year reign of Asa king of Judah.  What I love most about Asa is that he deliberately chose not to follow the evil practices of the generations before him.  His father Abijah was an idol worshiper who did not follow the Lord.  His grandmother Maacah was as well.  Yet Asa did not allow his past to define his future.  He did not let his ancestors’ idolatry determine his relationship with God.  Rather Asa took deliberate steps to remove idolatry not just from his own life but from Judah as a whole.  Verse 14 says “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life”.   

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 14:21-31. Let’s go!

1 Kings 14:24-25 (NIV) 
24 There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 

On verses 21-31:  These verses summarize the 17 year reign of Rehoboam, David’s grandson and Solomon’s son, over the tribe of Judah.  Judah (together with Benjamin) was the one tribe out of the tribes of Israel that the Lord did not tear away from the house of David.  While Rehoboam ruled over Judah, Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord by worshiping idols (v22). There was rampant idolatry in the land of Judah (v22-24).  Right after this we read of how Shishak King of Egypt attacks King Rehoboam’s city of Jerusalem.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 13:23-34.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 13:23 (NIV) 
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.

On verses 23-32:  Earlier in verses 21 and 22, the older prophet gives the younger prophet a word from God that the younger prophet has defied God’s command by eating and drinking when God specifically told him not to eat and drink during his trip (v21-22).  Notice the younger prophet’s response in verse 23: there is no indication that the younger prophet repented or felt remorse for what he did.  It seems like he just got on his donkey and proceeded to go home as if everything was normal.  Notice what happens next to the younger prophet: “As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.” (v24)

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 13:1-10.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 13:2 (NIV) 
2 He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'”

On verses 1-10:  King Jeroboam is now deeply entrenched in idolatry.  An unnamed prophet from Judah appears before Jeroboam while Jeroboam is offering an idolatrous sacrifice.  This unnamed prophet predicts that one day a young man named Josiah will be born to the house of David and “will sacrifice the priests who now make offerings here” (v2); in other words, the prophet predicts that this young man Josiah would put an end to idolatry in Israel.  Approximately 290 years after this prophecy is made, a young man Josiah is indeed born to the house of David, becomes king of Judah, and puts an end to idolatry in his land (See 2 kings 23).